Tas canine recruits to crack down on ice

A team of canine cops are part of Tasmania's latest crackdown on trafficking of the drug ice.

Labradors Aggie and Yardley are just two weeks into their police training, from which they will graduate with the ability to sniff out crystal meth and cash.

Police commissioner Darren Hine says they will be part of a five-dog squad targeting the importation and movement of ice around Tasmania.

"Dogs have a great capacity and capability to sniff out drugs during a search," he said.

"The current dogs we're training will have a capability to sniff out cash. Criminals who are selling drugs and distributing drugs make money and obviously there are large amounts of cash associated with drugs."

The dogs will work across the state and will be used at airports, ports and mail centres, which Mr Hine said were hot spots for ice arriving from overseas and mainland Australia.

The 15-month-old trainees will join an existing sniffer dog, and the Tasmanian government will fund two more puppies.